Tomoe
Voiced by: Shinnosuke Tachibana Tomoe (巴衛) is the deuteragonist of the manga series Kamisama Hajimemashita. He was the familiar of Mikage before his master left their shrine twenty years prior to the beginning of the story, and then, when Nanami forcibly kisses Tomoe out of desperation for her life and orders him to save her, he then becomes her familiar. For all his civilized airs, his past years as a feral yokai were blood-drenched and wretched. He seems to have been an antagonist of the demon realm, earning him a multitude of unsavory incidences to cope with in the present day. Nanami gets more attention from other supernatural beings by association to Tomoe than she does as a deity, at least early on in the series. Tomoe doesn't actually part from his rampaging ways until he meets the Land God Mikage (the predecessor to Nanami) who, as it seems, purified him and then bound him as a familiar of the Land Shrine. An on-going mystery of this manga is Tomoe's love history, which is centered around a mortal girl named Yukiji, who eventually died despite consuming the life-elixir of the Dragon King 's eye. Any memory of Yukiji is now lost, however, Nanami seems to have some uncanny connections to Tomoe's deceased love. Tomoe's abilities are pretty vast, which is reflected by the terrified respect he recieves from other yokai and by the envy ill-meaning gods have for Nanami, Tomoe's current master. Like Kurama, Tomoe can also assume a human form, which he uses when accompanying Nanami to school everyday. He also showed to being able to copy Nanami's resemblance, as shown when he used it in order to go to school in her place when she couldn't go due to a cold. Characteristics Tomoe as a familiar of Mikage shrine seems to have much more ability than any other familiar, perhaps due to his past as wild fox; he's the one who maintains the Land Shrine's condition (since the current Land God, Nanami Momozono does not have enough power to). In the story, he appears as a loyal and caring servant to his master; though he sometimes can be ruthless and aloof, as the thirst of blood dominate his usual traits. Tomoe is the mixture of almost everything; a strong yokai, a devoted familiar of Mikage Shrine, yet he can be warm, and caring. At time, he also can be cruel, aloof, indifferent, ruthless, jealous, and sly, depending on who he's with. Tomoe doesn't seem to understand human emotions, and as noted by Kurama, "He doesn't get girls Nanami's age." which is really hard considering her acts of breaking down into tears. Nanami, not knowing it, slowly teaches Tomoe that humans are indeed weaker than demons, but that doesn't mean they can't be strong. Tomoe tends to base things off of appearance and judges things on beauty. In the past, he refused letting things he considered "ugly" near him and was very flamboyant in terms of clothing. He also had a habit of smelling things and if they were "Smelly" or had a "foul order" than Tomoe would once again push those things away. According to Akuraou, Tomoe had/has an elegant princ like feeling to him, and he was a difficult guy to get along with. Abilities It's not exaggerating to say that Tomoe is one of the most powerful yokai (and a God familiar at the same time) among all. Tomoe's abilities are pretty vast, a fact which is reflected by the terrified respect he receives from other yokai and by the envy ill-meaning gods have for Nanami, Tomoe's current master. As a fox yokai, he is capable to control fox fire on his own will, which is even being said that able to make a sea of fire. Not only that, he can also transform other creatures, in addition to himself, through the use of enchanted leaves. However, as a familar his Yokai powers seem to be weakened due to his bound to the shrine. In the past, the demon king Akura-Ou and he were near acquaintances; and it was said that Tomoe, the fox yokai was the only person Akura-Ou acknowledged as his comrade, in other words, equal to him (in terms of power). History In the past, before his meeting with the previous Land God, Mikage, Tomoe and Akura-Ou (the demon king) massacred thousands of humans only for the fun of it. Later on, Tomoe fell in love with a human girl (called Yukiji) and made a contract with a fallen god, Kuromaro, to turn him into human so he could live as human with that girl to his death. The fallen god deceived him, he didn't turn into human and worst, the fallen god had marked him as his/her (in other words, tried to take his soul). Yet before his death coming, he met Mikage. Mikage purified him and made him forget about Yukiji, so that as long as Tomoe cannot recall that girl, his life will be saved. Relationships Akura-Ou Akura-Ou was Tomoe's past comrade. However, because Tomoe admitted he was falling in love with a human girl and was going to become a human (no longer being a yokai), Akura-Ou got mad and then they split. 500 years later, Akura-Ou will tell a ex-follower (though he doesn't remember him) that the reason why they split was because "That stinking fox went insane. He actually became enchanted with a human girl and saying he would no longer be a yokai and other nonsense" They refered to each other as "Brother." Mikage Mikage is Tomoe's previous master and the God who saved him from dying. Tomoe served him for 500 years and suddenly, Mikage went away and never came back (Once Mikage comes back to the shrine in chapter 79, he explains that for all the time he was gone, he was looking for a cure that could save Tomoe from the curse marks, but stated "That there are none to be found"). After Mikage erased Tomoe's memories of Yukiji, he took him under his "wing" and taught him the values of human life (since he lost his memory of ever being kind to a human, he turned back to the way he was before he fell in love with a human, which at that time was Yukiji) Mizuki is Tomoe's fellow familiar of Land Shrine, his apprentice to be more precise. They often get into ridiculous mocking fights, yet deep inside they do care for each other in some way. In the beginning Mizuki is shown trying to get Nanami to hate Tomoe by telling her that "he was with the swamp women and that he really was pleased right now", although he was with the fake Nanami, that way Nanami would think of him as a better familiar than Tomoe. But as the story goes on, Mizuki eventually gives up on the idea, realizing that no matter what happens, Nanami will always love Tomoe. Kurama Kurama is a Tengu (Crow Goblin) from Kurama Mountain. They developed a lingering hatred for each other, mostly due to Tomoe's jealousy towards Kurama (It's hard to explain but it involved Nanami as well). Though in the end, they become friends, in a way. He is mostly seen giving Tomoe advice on Nanami's human feelings. In the Kurama Mountain arc, at the end Kurama gave Tomoe the advice to tell Nanami how he felt about her, saying that "a man's life is too short" and that he would never get any other chances. (Tomoe eventually tells Nanami "I like you too." but she was drunk when he told her that and thus she didn't pick up the words.) Narukami Narukami is the lightning god. After cursing Mikage and saying, "Stealing Tomoe away from me", it can be supposed that Tomoe had once worked for her or she had taken a liking to Tomoe. However, Tomoe makes it very obvious that he dislikes her. Nanami Momozono Nanami is Tomoe's master (the current God of Mikage Shrine). At first they didn't seem to have a good relationship, but as the story flows, Tomoe begins to open up to Nanami and vice versa. He turned Nanami down when she confessed to him, yet at the further chapters, he shows clues that he has developed 'romantic' feelings toward his God. In more recent volumes he has admitted to himself that he likes Nanami while it being implied to be romantic way. Although Tomoe was/is the second strongest Yokai in the demon world, he fears Nanami's anger, which mainly happens when he flirts with other girls, due to jealousy. And at some point when Nanami kicked both Tomoe and Mizuki (though he had nothing to do with it) to get some snacks, Tomoe happily stated that she was jealous, and that a "women's jealousy is a scary thing" Yukiji Yukiji was Tomoe's past love. He would do anything for her; even go as far as massacring many lives in order to take the Dragon King's right eye (which was said will bring immortal life and great power) to save Yukiji from dying due to her weak body and perhaps disease). He was even seen shedding tears over her death as he told Mikage about how much he still loved her and wished to be with her. In chapter 80, Tomoe's curse marks have been awakened again, because he remembered his past love (and the only way he could remember this was if he fell in love with a human again, a.k.a. Nanami) so in the next volume, Nanami travels back into the past to find the fallen god who Tomoe made the contract with, in hopes to find the "Key" that will break his curse. Trivia *In the manga, Tomoe is seen wearing fancy kimonos with butterfly patterns, but in the anime, he is seen wearing wearing regular kimonos (some of which are adorned with flower patterns). *Tomoe is actually over 628 years old. *Tomoe is one of the tallest male characters in the show (he is taller than Mizuki, Nanami, Kurama, ect., but shorter than Mikage). *In the manga, Tomoe's eyes are portrayed as being yellowish or even a green in color, but in the anime, his eyes are a purple color. *According to Akura-Ou, Tomoe has a fox habit of hiding his precious things. This could explain why Tomoe is always trying to hide Nanami away from others, males included. *Tomoe is a rare female Japanese name that means "friend and blessing" It's also a Japanese abstract shape (a swirl) that resembles a comma or the usual form of magatama. The symobl is quite similar to the Yin-Yang symbol for balance and it is made up of interlocked flames resembling tadpoles. *Tomoe has a fear of Nanami leaving just like Mikage. *In the manga, Tomoe refers to Nanami as his "Master" but in the anime version, he refers to her as either his "Lady" or "Mistress" Quotes (To Dragon King) "It's been awhile hasn't, Dragon King? You've got some nerve showing your face in front of Nanami." (To Dragon King) "What are you, Crazy? She might be an Earth Deity, but she is weak and helpless." "One mustn't touch her so readily with bloodied hands like mine." (Once he finds out that Mizuki is Nanami's familiar too.) "What?!" "Nanami is an idiot." (To a sleeping-drunk Nanami) "I like you too." (To little Nanami after she asks him if he really liked her) " Of course I do... So, marry me?" (About Nanami) "Why do I still feel drawn to her?... What is that girl to me?" (To little Nanami) "Let's run, hm? From the pedophile.." (Reffering to Mizuki) (To Nanami) "What's wrong with me touching a human girl? Haven't I always said that.. Including YOU, human girls are out of the question." (To Nanami) "I won't fall in love with a human girl." (To Nanami in Yukiji's body) "Now Cry for me, Human." (To Human Girl) "Don't Touch me, Human!" (About Nanami) "Really, what aspct attracts me to this yong girl?" Category:Familiars Category:Male characters Category:Characters Category:Yokai